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Frank enlisted in the UNSC in 2535[2] and participated in various battles over the course of the Human-Covenant war. During a battle in the 2540s, he was engaged by a Sangheili named N'tho 'Sraom. After severing his arm off with his energy sword, N'tho would have killed Frank were it not for a nearby explosion, which caught the Elite off guard, giving Frank the chance to escape.[3] Afterwards, he replaced his arm with a battle grade prosthetic.

Two days into repairs Frank approached N'tho, who was practicing with his energy sword. Frank asked him if they could practice together, to which N'tho agreed. Frank activated his own energy sword, which he obtained from a Sangheili he killed during the war, and started to use it against N'tho. N'tho soon caught on that the Spartan was trying to kill him and asked him why. Frank then pulled off the right gauntlet of his MJOLNIR armor, revealing an artificial arm. However, Frank told N'tho he would not kill him, as it would be defying the mission.[6] A few seconds later, Drifts Randomly activated the portal, causing a violent earthquake that caused a tree to pin N'tho down. Frank decided to spare N'tho's life, and cut the tree with his sword, freeing him.[7] The pair realized a ForerunnerRetriever Sentinel had emerged from the portal and had begun excavating the ground around the portal. After a brief engagement by UNSC Endeavor, it was destroyed.[8] Shortly afterward, a meeting was held aboard Mayhem, per N'tho's request, to discuss the next course of action. N'tho suggested they enter the portal immediately, but Richards insisted they wait for consent by her superiors. Not wanting to waste time, N'tho ordered his crew to enter the portal,[9] prompting Frank to point his gun at N'tho and threaten to kill him if he did not land the vessel, but Drifts Randomly quickly took the pistol from him and threw it to Usze.[10] The ship approached the portal but before it could enter another Retriever appeared, Mayhem quickly took care of the construct and entered the portal.[11]

Instead of taking weeks, Mayhem arrived at the Ark in a matter of hours.[12] The vessel was soon engaged by multiple armed Retrievers and was overwhelmed, the corvette crashed onto the surface of the Ark and suffered severe damage.[13] Frank and the rest of the expedition exited the ship and N'tho informed them they were heading to the installation's Citadel, where they could deactivate the Halo Array. After journeying for a while the group were approached by a pack of blind wolves but managed to avoid them thanks to Olympia Vale's advice, however they were promptly attacked by a group of Chaefka and the sound of the fight attracted the blind wolves back. During the fight Olympia Vale was attacked by one of the animals and her mind started to be controlled by an unknown force which made her walk away with one of the Chaefka.[14] After learning of her disappearance, Richards ordered three Marines to take the dead back to the ship and she split the remaining members of the expedition into two groups, with one team consisting of Frank, N'tho, Luther Mann, Zon 'Vadum, Kola 'Baoth, the remaining four Marines and herself tasked with heading straight to the Citadel and the other team consisting of Usze 'Taham, Spartan Elias Holt and Henry Lamb tasked with searching for Vale.[15]

Along the way, Frank and his group found a mammoth which, to their surprise, carried them in the direction of the Citadel. Frank was soon contacted by Holt, who asked for backup after he informed him of the carnivorous plants that were currently attacking them. Frank dismounted the mammoth and proceeded in Holt's direction. When he eventually reached the area, he found a large tree which promptly started attacking him. Usze found him and they worked together to cut down the tree with their energy swords. Holt and Lamb caught up to them, and they proceeded to the Citadel.[16] Both teams arrived at the Citadel and the light bridge was activated for them, which made them suspect a trap. The group made their way through the building and across the bridge leading to the control panel that would deactivate the array. Upon reaching it Luther Mann deactivated the array and dozens of Armigers teleported in front of them.[17] The team fought their way back across the bridge but Frank, N'tho, Holt and Zon were cut off from the rest and were teleported into a dark corridor.[18] They made their way through and found themselves in a room with a gap in the floor blocking their path. The Spartans used their armor's built in thrusters to cross the gap, but Aggressor Sentinels suddenly rose out of the gap just as N'tho attempted to jump the hole. Zon and the Spartans quickly destroyed the Sentinels, and N'tho was pulled out of the hole by Frank and Holt.

N'tho heard Olympia Vale's voice and they soon found a room with her and the Ark's monitor inside but they couldn't enter due to an energy barrier blocking their way. Vale was then attacked by a cyborg, which Frank quickly identified as his brother Bobby, and a fight between him and Vale ensued. Frank managed to communicate to Vale that the construct was his brother, and Vale managed to calm the construct down for a short time. N'tho, Zon, Frank and Holt went and found the monitor's data stores and started firing at them, causing the monitor to malfunction and the energy barrier to fall.[19] Vale took down Bobby and the monitor begged for them to stop damaging his data stores and that he would call back the retrievers if they did so. Frank attempted to convince Bobby to come back with him to UNSC space and that suicide wasn't the right choice, and the rest of the group agreed to stop shooting, but the monitor attacked them again. Bobby lunged at the monitor and pierced it with his bladed forearm, but he was killed when the monitor exploded, saddening Frank greatly. N'tho then found a way to the surface and the team headed back to the ship.[20]

After returning to Mayhem, the team realized the ship was still in very bad shape, but a fleet of UNSC ships exited slipspace and manage to locate the vessel and bring it back to Earth.[21] N'tho approached Frank in the cargo bay of UNSC Witness and told him he felt sorry for him for the death of his brother and he is sorry for cutting off his arm during the war. Frank forgave him, and thanked him for saving his life, to which N'tho thanked him for saving his as well. N'tho offers to arrange for Frank to visit Sanghelios, but Frank kindly declines, stating he wants to take a break from visiting planets with aliens that want to kill him, but let N'tho know that he appreciated the offer.[22]

Frank is said to be exceptionally discreet and only speaks when spoken to.[2] He has a great disdain and mistrust for the Sangheili, for their merciless genocide of humans and the loss of his right arm during the Covenant war. However, after the mission to Installation 00, he came to forgive N'tho for severing his arm.